Aang's Rampage
by Kariko
Summary: When an old man places a spell on Aang, he goes after Katara, who refuses to fight him. Can she cure him before he gets to her?
1. Eccentric Old Men

**Aang's Rampage**

**Chapter One:**

**Eccentric Old Men**

"Are you sure this guy can help me?" Aang asked Katara while pointing to the rash on his ribcage, which had popped up randomly about two hours ago.

"The villagers here said he's famous for curing strange things." Katara replied, slipping a knapsack onto her back.

Sokka and Toph sat on a small rug, Toph snuggling next to Sokka as she always did. "How long do you think it'll take you guys?" Sokka piped up

Katara thought for a moment, "With Appa, we should be there by tonight. So about a day or two, I suppose."

Sokka shrugged and sat back against the wall. "Whatever. We'll explore the village a little while you're gone."

The group had stopped to rest by a small forest, which they found out later, was inhabited by an earth village. An extremely _small_ one. There were probably no more than twenty or thirty people living there. Still, they were welcoming and as Toph described it, it was "quite cozy".

The funny thing was that Appa had to sleep on the outskirts, since he was bigger than the 'town' itself. They had stone houses,( a few empty ones incase rare travelers dropped by), and a bizarre, which was located in a tree house just above the head house, selling only clothing, food and little toys bent from rock and clay.

Although it was small, everyone seemed happy, and they had a messenger, who went out to hear gossip about the war. They were secluded, but wanted to be safe. There was no crime or murdering here, and it reminded Katara of the South Pole. She smiled, unknowingly, but her attention was diverted back to Aang.

"You must've fell in something. Can you remember stumbling into some shrubs or anything?" she asked him

Aang stared at the ground in thought. "Well... not really. Wait! I was practicing some funny earth bending tricks and fell off of Appa and into a bush! It had some purple berries on it." Aang said

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Did you _eat _any of these berries?"

"No. But I did smash some when I fell in." Aang confessed

"Then it probably was the berries." Katara concluded as she climbed onto Appa.

Aang yelled the usual 'Appa, Yip yip!' and the bison flew away.

They had been traveling for but a few hours when Appa came upon some rocky hills. Katara's sleepy blue eyes looked down at the map and she immediately woke up. "Aang, that's it!" she pointed towards the rocks.

"Great! I'll be cured in no time." Aang yelled happily

Appa landed on a large cliff while Aang and Katara walked on, finding a small 'dent' in the rocks. It was too small to be an actual cave, but it was large enough to hold a one story house fit for one person.

Katara knocked on the door shyly. She heard a grumpy voice within.

"What, I build my house on a gosh darn cliff and I _still_ don't get any privacy?! How do those villagers always know where I am?"

He practically threw open the door, preparing to yell at Katara, but stopped. "Well, hello there." his grumpy expression was replace with a warm grin. "It's been a while since Ah had such a pretty youth visit meh." he looked up and put his finger on his chin in a thoughtful expression, "Exactly thirty-two years. Now what's wrong with yah? Yah look purty healthy tah me."

Katara blushed and back away a bit. For such an old-looking man, his features were intimidating. He had eyes as shiny and black as coals, he had a crooked nose and very chapped lips. He was about as wrinkled as a basset hound. And he wore only a torn white sash over his thin body. White hair stuck out in every direction from his head, as did his beard from his chin.

The scariest feature was that his fingers were long, and so were his nails. They looked like the kind that would reach out from under something and grab you.

"Um... a-actually, it's me." Aang piped up, pointing to his ever-growing rash.

The old man simply shook his head. "Yah city slickers. Just landed on some faffleberries, eh? Were they long 'n' purple?" he leaned towards Aang's head.

"Yeah!" Aang remembered.

"Just as Ah thought. Come on in." he gestured and the two children hardly hesitated.

The old man went into a back room, which Katara could see he had a lot of medicines and scrolls. He certainly seemed knowledgeable for an old man.

Aang and Katara sat at a table staring at a thick formula, which was supposedly supposed to be tea. Aang had already removed his shirt and waited for the old man.

He returned with a teal colored lotion contained in a bottle. "Rub this on yah. The rash'll heal in no time." he said, handing Aang the bottle. "Say... you must be tha Avatar, huh?"

"Yes, sir!" Aang replied furiously rubbing the lotion onto his ribcage.

"Don' call me that. Name's Kone. What might yah'll's be?" he asked

"My name is Katara, and this is Aang. We're traveling, so Aang can learn all the elements. Well... I guess he already has." Katara laughed a bit.

Katara could've sworn she saw Kone smirk. But her mistrust quickly faded. He was just smiling. "That's good. Somebody's gotta protect us cowards." he joked

"Yup. We're about to make a move on the Fire Nation." Aang said

"Really. That's interestin'." he mused

"I don't mean to be a burden," Katara piped up, "but can we stay here for the night? We're staying at a small village and I don't think we'll be able to find them in this dark."

Kone sighed. "Sure yah can. Ah can understand. Ah know how small they're village is, 'cause they wanna be this secluded li'l group. Geeze, Ah couldn't have any _normal_ neighbors, could Ah?" the old man waved his arms and walked into his room.

He peaked his head back out. "That room behind yah is mah guest room. Sort of, at least there's a bed in there. G'night." he waved and closed his door.

"He sure is trusting." Aang pointed out, poking at the sticky lotion.

Katara nodded, as the two of them went into the guest room.

That night, Katara woke up extremely hungry. 'Gee, I didn't each much during the day...' she realized.

Quietly, she snuck out of the room to find a small snack in her knapsack she had left on Appa's back. Suddenly she heard a voice.

"Whatcha doin' up so late, girl?" Kone asked suspiciously.

Katara jumped, startled by his surprisingly calm voice. "Sorry, I got hungry. Did I wake you? I was trying to be as quiet as possi..."

"Stop talkin'." he ordered "Hmm... Look up at me."

Katara reluctantly made eye contact with him. He laughed a bit before speaking again. "You're a powerful Water Bender. Ah can tell. See, Ah was born with this special gift. Ah look intah people's souls an' ah can tell what kind of bender they are an' how powerful. Neat, huh?" he smiled

"Yeah. I am a Water Bender!" Katara confirmed his assumptions.

"That's nice. But see, I get a little bored up here. So Ah need tah ask you a question..." he moved closer to Katara

Katara did not answer, but merely gulped. Kone laughed. "It's nothin' like that li'l lady. I just want to know..."

Katara was afraid now. He had cornered her. "Think yah can hold your own against the _Avatar_?" he let out an evil laugh, and gave her a twisted smirk that would scare Zuko.

**First Chapter. I know I started off slow, but it will get better.**

**BTW, this was based off a freaky dream I had. I thought the plot was very excellent and ironic for a dream, and made it into a fanfiction. **

**(Yes, said dream did star the Avatar characters. Therefore, the story would not be right if I used any other show). **


	2. Running Away

**Aang's Rampage**

**Chapter Two:**

**Running Away**

"What are you saying? Why would Aang even _think_ to challenge me?" Katara yelled at Kone.

"Oh, he wouldn't. Unless yah could say Ah... _persuaded_ him a bit." he laughed again.

Tears were already threatening to spill from Katara's eyes. "Why... Why would you do that? How?"

"Don't be too upset at meh. Let's make a li'l deal, love." he cupped her chin. "If yah can hold your own against him, I'll letcha go and we'll forget all about this."

"What if I don't want to fight him?" Katara asked stubbornly, pushing his ugly fingers away almost violently.

"Then you will both die." he stated

The door to the guest room flew open and there stood Aang in the Avatar State. Katara did not hesitate to run out the door. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her and quickly climbed onto Appa's back.

Aang ran out at almost the same speed and sent a slicing wind at her. Fortunately, Appa was fast enough to fly up and avoid Aang's attack.

"Appa, there something wrong with Aang! We can't stick around here!" she yelled.

She looked back. Aang was right behind her. Quickly, she turned the reins and Appa made the sharpest right turn Katara had ever seen him do, he also dove down in the process. Aang did the exact same thing, and faster, as well! A small boy could glide faster than a large bison.

"Higher! Higher, Appa!" Katara yelled, lifting the reins.

Appa flew into the clouds and Katara could no longer see Aang. It was harder for him to lift himself higher in mid-air. Katara pulled the reins to the left and they flew forward a bit before Appa dove again.

As fast as they were going, Appa was very close to hitting a forest, but rose just in time and flew over it, causing very many trees to lose leaves. At last, Aang was far behind them! Once again, Katara and Appa flew up into the clouds to ditch him.

"I... I don't know what's wrong with him." Katara sobbed "Aang would never hurt me willingly."

Appa let out a grunt, and Katara sensed he was trying to comfort her. "You're right! Something's wrong with him! And I'm the only one who can fix him." Katara decided.

Appa's grunt questioned her.

"Well... maybe he is trying to kill me. But I can't fight Aang. I won't. I'll just find some other way to cure him."

Katara took Appa to the left again since she couldn't see Aang anymore. He must've had more trouble than she thought trying to fly into the clouds.

What she didn't know was that he was mentally trying to stop himself, and his body refused to allow him to soar up into the cloudy night.

Katara gave a long sigh before speaking. "I hope he'll be alright, Appa."

They rode through the night to find a safe town far away from Aang.

**KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang**

Sokka woke up very groggy that morning. Something about this forest just didn't suit him. He looked at Toph, who was throwing little pebbles at a wall.

"Finally up?" she asked.

"Uh... yeah. Are Katara and Aang back?" he asked looking around the small room.

Toph sighed. "Yes, Sokka. They came back last night drenched in tea. Then they said they were going to ditch us and fly off somewhere far away to elope." she said, the sarcasm flowing from her voice like one big sarcastic stream.

"Oh. That's nice." Sokka turned to go back to sleep and suddenly bolted upright. "No way! My sister's _way _too young to marry! On that note, Aang is even younger than she is! What could they be thinking?! I'll tell you what! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Wait till I..." Sokka stepped towards the door.

"Sit back down, Sokka. I was joking." Toph threw a pebble at his head as he glared at her.

"That wasn't funny." he said, sitting back down.

"You're right." Toph hung her head, but it immediately popped back up, and she bent another pebble at his head. "It was _hilarious_!" she laughed at Sokka just to annoy him.

Sokka just glared. "One of these days, Toph. I'll get you when you least expect it." Sokka slumped back against the wall and pulled out a scroll to ease his boredom.

**KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang** **KatAang**

Katara had landed in a small earth kingdom town, where Appa was hidden in an abandoned building that once was an arena. A generous family had let her stay the night, and given her a meal.

At dinner she told them how the avatar was on a wild rampage, and if they saw him, to simply run away. They asked if he was after anything in particular.

"I... don't know. But he won't harm you if you don't try to get in his way." Katara stated.

The husband grumbled. "Hmph. I thought He was supposed to help people."

Katara immediately came to Aang's defense. "It's not his fault! This old man did something to him because he was bored or something and now Aang can't control himself!" Katara cried. She wiped away the tears that had spilt while she told her story.

"Calm down, honey, we don't blame him." The wife said whilst patting Katara on the back. "Honey why don't you get her more tea."

"Alright, Mommy." A little girl with dirty blonde hair just below her chest jumped off her chair and ran into the kitchen, seemingly unaware of the glum situation around her. Katara wished it was that way for her.

Katara winced as she heard some screams outside. It might not have scared her so much if a certain phrase like "The Avatar's turned evil" wasn't added along with it.

"I've got to go!" she yelled, "Stay in here, he won't harm you! I promise!" she ran out the back door and saw that there were quite a few trees located behind the house.

While they were not enough to make an actual forest, the leaves were dense enough to hide her. Katara picked the one with the most branch and leaves and climbed furiously.

Too bad Katara totally sucked at climbing. It didn't help that she lived at the South Pole all her life. Luckily she climbed just enough branches to hide in the dense leaves.

She almost screamed when she saw Aang fly out the back door. Did he hurt them? She promised the family he wouldn't!

An inner sigh of relief came to her when she saw that they were merely back up against a wall, hugging one another. If Aang was only after her he wouldn't dare hurt any other people, no matter what the crazy old man did to him.

Tension worked its way through Katara as Aang flew around. Finally, he glared at the tree and sent a rushing wind toward it, blowing off every leaf in it. He smirked at Katara.

"I've got no choice." Katara whispered to herself as she brought out her only water source. She popped off the cork with her thumb and threw the water at him, which turned to ice. "If I can trap him against that wall just long enough..."

It worked! Aang was held up against the wall by ice, and he even stopped moving, which Katara did not notice. She was about to run when that familiar voice she loved so much stopped her.

"Katara, you've got to help me!" She turned to see Aang normal again, and smiled.

Without hesitation, she moved towards him, but he winced again and shouted something else.

"Wait, wait Katara! Don't come near me! I don't want to hurt you!" he yelled, "Run! Run away!"

Katara obeyed him, and ran to the abandoned building to find Appa And had tears running down her face as he flew away.

"There's only one place in the world Aang won't think to look for us, Appa." she wiped away her tears and her expression became very aggressive.

Katara looked down at the saddle as she muttered to Appa: "The Fire Nation."

**Sooo Zuko plus Azula shall be seen in the next chapter.** **Katara sure seems pretty brave if she wants to go there, huh?**


	3. The Fire Nation

**Aang's Rampage**

**Chapter Three:  
The Fire Nation**

Appa seemed appalled at the prospect of flying to the Fire Nation. Even as a flying bison, he was still smart enough to know it was not a place they wanted to be. However, Katara also did not Aang to hurt her in his current state. She felt bad for him, and her anger was directed toward Kone. _He _had put that spell on Aang, and it was up to her to snap him out of it!

"Yes. Hide while you can. He'll find you." Kone watched her in a cloud of steam he mixed up from various supernatural herbs lurking about by his house. He kept a hefty supply of them in the back. At his age, it was almost impossible for him to hike for them anymore, so spares were a must. Luckily, he did not use them often.

Hesitantly, the large beast lowered himself as stealthily as a two on bison could into a forest. Aang was still flying around, searching for her in a rage, his normal self lying underneath all the anger wanting to save Katara and reassure her that he would never ever intentionally hurt her. Just as much as Katara wanted him back to normal, Aang wanted this to be over with, as well.

Still, he could not yet control his most powerful form, which already sensed Katara in a dangerous area. Following her there could mean being kidnapped by Azula or one of her lackeys, killed in Avatar form and stopping the Avatar incarnation process altogether. It would be all his fault! Not to mention Katara could (and probably _would_) get harmed in the mess of events. It crushed him to see her suffer.

His avatar for didn't care about the danger, and flew toward the Fire Nation without a care in the world. Except for finding Katara.

"Quickly, Appa!" Katara urged the bison to fly faster through the forest. During the thirty seconds they had been flying, she ran over a few soldiers, which was not good in the least. The last thing she wanted to do was draw more attention to herself. She wished Aang had never fallen in that bush and gotten a rash. Or she was wishing they had never met Kone, or ran when they had the chance. Why was Aang so clumsy? When this was over she would lecture him about being more careful.

* * *

"I can't believe they're not back yet." Toph impatiently messed with some rocks on the floor, flicking them at Sokka. When he glared over at her, she could sense his irritation and put on her "What did I do?" act and innocently lay back and stretch her toes like nothing had happened.

"We could train or something." Sokka suggested. You might be able to burn off all that energy you have. Truthfully, he was also very worried about where Aang and Katara could be. After all, it was only a rash. How long did that possibly take to heal?

Of course, there was the possibility that it was more than a rash and Aang had gotten some serious illness. In the result he had passed it to Katara, who was suffering with him. It would only be a matter of time before _he _got Aang's freaky sickness, and Toph, and they would have no means of travel to get to a doctor. Sokka panicked. Toph heard his stomps as he raced out the door. "Where the heck are you going?" she yelled after him.

"I don't wanna die!" Sokka screamed, jumping right into the creek nearby. He hoped the water would wash off some of Aang's icky germs. He scrubbed at his arms and legs until Toph walked over.

"What's your problem?" she inquired, hearing Sokka splash water around like crazy in his frenzy of scrubbing his arms.

"Toph! Do you feel funny? Feverish or anything?" If Toph got sick, he would have no hope! It was probably too late to bathe. Now he was soaked to the bone for no reason.

"No, I don't, and you're a bozo." Toph couldn't help but throw in a little insult due to his freakish behavior. "Why are you so germaphobic all of a sudden?"

"Well," Sokka explained "What if Aang was really sick, and the rash was one of his symptoms? Katara got sick too and they're at some freaky doctor's house, and they gave it to us right before we left."

"They've been gone a day, and we're perfectly fine." Nevertheless, Toph did not want to take chance, and jumped in the creek with Sokka. The water was shallow enough, and she could feel the ground and feel vibrations to help her see.

* * *

As time went on, Aang's senses became more acute, and he became more focused on Katara. It would be mere minutes before he found her, now. Katara still raced through the forest. It was harder for her to decide if she was more afraid of the now uncontrollable Aang or Fire Nation soldiers. Possibly Azula or Zuko. She thought hiding here would do her some good, but it turned out she had put the both of them in more danger than ever.

"I'm so sorry, Aang." Katara's vision started to blur as the tears swelled up.

Appa suddenly stopped and reared back, throwing Katara off in the process. He was been stopped by a blast of fire that singed a bit of his fur. Great. Now she would have to trim that later. "Stop right there." She heard a familiar, regal voice that took her by surprise. "A giant bison, and the water bender. Tell me, Katara, where is the Avatar?"

_No! _Katara shouted in her head. "Zuko, you can't--" she worried for Aang's safety. At the same time, she couldn't let Zuko be hurt by Aang because of her. They had been allies once, and she was too kind-hearted to let that happen. Aang would regret it later, too. She mustered up all her courage to shout at him and warn. "_We have to get out of here, NOW_!"

"What?" Zuko looked bewildered.

She felt a strong breeze, that stopped right behind her. Zuko gaped at Aang. He had seen him in Avatar form, yes...

But _never _like this.


	4. Body and Spirit

**Aang's Rampage**

**Chapter Four:  
Body and Spirit  
**

"Quickly Appa!" Katara wasted no time. She had to lead Aang away from Zuko before he tried to capture him. She jumped upon the bison, who flew from the trees with a bit of effort, due to his size. He finally squeezed his way out, not much faster than Aang.

Katara realized running would no longer do her any good. Aang was much too close for her to lose him again, and no matter how much he didn't want to hurt her underneath, he could not fight his Avatar state of mind just yet. He had barely done it when it was developing at its weakest point. And no matter how much she didn't want to hurt him...

She would have to stop him somehow.

Fighting him would be no easy task. However, all she needed to accomplish was calming him. Or even better! She could throw him off while she raced back to Kone's! How could she not think of that before? Certainly, he wouldn't want Aang to destroy his home in the process of trying to get a hold of her. On impulse, Katara jumped from Appa. It was a huge risk, but it certainly threw the Avatar off. He was baffled by this move.

Katara used her water bending skills, causing a huge wave to float up to her and then pushing forward onto land to break her fall. Though wet, she landed safely. Appa flew down to her, but Aang was much quicker.

"No, Aang, pleas--" before she could utter out the last syllable she was tackled to the ground, out of Aang's way, who had gone whizzing past, as though he weren't able to control his speed.

In truth, he couldn't control a lot of things, which happened to be his one disadvantage. His power was still growing by the minute and it would have to get to a point where he couldn't control it at all. His speed was so great, stopping was almost forgotten, power was so amazing, everthing would be blown away with one swipe of the hand.

"Come and fight _me_, Avatar, once and for all!" Zuko shouted to him. His glowing blue eyes glared right past him at Katara.

"Zuko, are you crazy?" But she didn't give him time to answer, she hopped onto Appa's back and flew away. She looked down, no longer able to see Zuko shouting after Aang, who had knocked down a few trees in the commotion. "Hurry!" she stopped looking back, and noticed Appa trying to speed up. He seemed a bit agitated, and kept shaking his back leg. Had Aang somehow managed to sling to Appa? Or worse... injure him?

When Katara looked over, she was more surprised to find Zuko clinging to Appa's leg. "What are you doing?" she yelled at him. "It's not safe!" she crawled over to help.

"I'm not going to let the Avatar slip away this time!" Zuko shouted, refusing her hand. What was Zuko thinking? Had he _not _seen how dangerous Aang was at this point? Surely Aang could rip him to shreds in the form he was now!

* * *

"So? Where is he?" Azula angrily screamed at her soldiers. The general was on his knees, shaking his head. "I heard the Avatar was in the Fire Nation! I want to see him for myself." Her volume suddenly dropped. "And finish him once and for all."

"The Avatar..." the General didn't know how to put it. "He_ left_. Zuko and the water bender were seen running away from him. He was in Avatar form, but he seemed angered. Like he was possessed."

"Don't give me that. Get me a ship and some witnesses." Her volume lowered once more as she talked to herself. "I'll find him myself."

* * *

"Well, I'm soaked, and it's been a few more hours. I think I would've gotten sick by now." Sokka removed some of his clothing and hung them from the tree. He entertained himself, by throwing his boomerang. Momo tried to get it himself, but Sokka was too quick and caught it just before he would get a hold of it.

Toph rinsed out her hat and her hair. She hadn't spent much time in the creek. The current was so quick, she could barely see (or sense) anything around her. Soon after, she waded out to sit with Momo and laugh at Sokka, who was scrubbing himself to the bone. "That's great, but we have one more thing to worry about."

"What's that?" Sokka asked in curiosity.

"Where are Twinkletoes and Princess?"

"Look," Sokka told her, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried, but Aang and Katara are a formidable team. Together, they could probably kick Azula's butt. Katara's water bending has gotten really good, and Aang has been practicing, too. If they're not back by tomorrow, we can look."

"You're right." Toph relaxed a bit. Sokka knew Katara and Aang very well, and if he said they were a great team, he didn't need to tell her twice.

* * *

Of course, it didn't help if one member of the team wasn't participating. Especially the more powerful of the two. Katara at least had a better sense of her direction than her brother, and leaded Appa back to Kone's home to reverse the spell. Meanwhile, Zuko kept asking questions.

"How did the Avatar get like this?" he questioned her. "What triggered this power?" He seemed very interested. Probably because he had never seen Aang this furious (and for, seemingly, no reason whatsoever) nor had he seen him this powerful. One wave of his hand could probably wipe out a forest, and if he started to go fast enough, he couldn't control the brakes, which could prove to cause a fatal accident. "Katara, where did all this power come from?" Zuko shouted.

"Look!" Katara yelled in desperation, "There was this old man who gave Aang a strange drink. Next thing I know, I'm running all around the world to avoid Aang. He's down there somewhere, and he's stopped himself from attacking me once. I know he's not a lost cause." Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. She quickly blinked them back in to have good control of Appa. One wrong move and Aang could catch them in his angry Avatar state.

"Stop the bison." Zuko demanded. "We'll never lose him. We have to _fight_." Though he seemed concerned for her safety, Zuko also didn't understand the severity of the situation. Or perhaps he didn't understand her plan.

"No, I'm going to see the man who did this to him. He will reverse the spell." Now Katara became angry at the thought of Kone. He had done this... to get a good laugh? There was _nothing _funny about this situation. She, Zuko, Appa, and Aang were all in danger and he was probably looking through some fancy crystal ball. _Hang in there Aang._

_No, no, no, NO! Stop! I don't want to hurt Katara! _Aang's thoughts raced even as he flew after the three of them. If he couldn't control himself, and protect his loved ones (and Zuko), how was he going to protect everyone else? Somehow, he had to find a way to control this amount of power. _If I can't stop, perhaps I can steer myself away from them... _It was like someone else had control of him physically throughout the entire time he'd been possessed. if he were to be knocked unconscious, he would be useless. Maybe not control himself to the fullest, but just enough to fly into a large rock. At the speed he was going, it was most likely a dangerous maneuver, but his current state was too powerful to control, otherwise. It seemed as though he had no choice. He wished he could use telepathy and tell Katara to steer Appa to dodge a number of obstacles he would probably run into.

There was no way he could do that. It was up to him to steer himself. _Right. GO RIGHT! _Aang thought as hard as he could and tried to move his head to the right, and his body would follow. His physical form merely twitched a bit, but that was enough to give him hope! _Brute force isn't the answer... _Aang realized. _I just need control. _He meditated in his mind, imagining his physical form flying to the right rather than shouting hopelessly in his head. _Fly. Fly to your right._

As Aang's body finally started flying to the right, he became excited. Zuko noticed as well. "Look!"

Katara slowed Appa down, and noticed Aang flying toward a large rock. "NO!" she shouted, immediately turning Appa's reigns.

Zuko ran up and grabbed them from her. "There's nothing you can do!" he shouted heartlessly. Flying into that rock cold mean his death, and she wouldn't stand by idly and watch aang kill himself to save her. Still, she didn't have a choice, and he flew right into this rocks, knocking himself unconscious. When they arrived, he looked lifeless, and Katara let her tears out. 'I've got to get him back to Kone!"

"Who?" All this time, Katara hadn't told him the name of the old man who had possessed Aang. "Katara, what's going on?"

"I'll explain, but you have to promise me two things." Katara lifted Aang onto Appa's back and flew off before Zuko could protest.

"Fair." he replied simply.

"One, you will help me convince Kone to heal Aang." Zuko nodded at this. He wanted to capture the Avatar himself in a dignified way, and stealing him while he was comatose and close to death wasn't the way to go about it. "Two..." Katara hesitated a bit, but her eyes were intense.

"What?"

"You _will not _harm Aang when he is healed. I'm not taking him to get him fixed only to have him taken away by someone from the Fire Nation. Got that?" she was firm with her words, something Zuko admired. So, he nodded.

"I understand. I would rather battle him fairly than to take advantage of him, anyway. I don't need to cheat to win a battle."

Katara was surprised at his response. Still it was very honorable of him to promise not to harm Aang. Capturing him was something he had dreamed about for most of his life and right when it seemed like the Avatar was being handed over on a silver platter, he refused. She felt quite proud of Zuko, despite his past betrayals.

Kone let out a cough. The water-bending beauty would arrive soon with a soldier from the Fire Nation. He could only imagine her anger and let out a laugh that turned into another cough. His job was done, and the Avatar had learned to control himself. Not to mention he could probably heal his nasty head wound. The old man let out a sigh. he was proud of both of them, but he still didn't look forward o their return. "Darn city slickers. Took 'em long enough to end that."

**TBC...**


	5. Just a Puppet

**Aang's Rampage**

**Chapter Four:****  
Just a Puppet**

Getting to Kone was vital. This was a dangerous situation for everyone, in more ways than one. Aang could wake up and attack, or he could die from his head injury before they arrived. Katara had done all she could for him. Head wounds weren't her specialty, and he had flown into that rock rather fast. Even if they did arrive in time, she didn't know the extent of Kone's powers. What if he couldn't do anything?

_No! _She thought as they flew up. _He WILL help Aang. All of this is his fault, anyway. He can't make a single excuse for what he's done. _Katara was determined to convince--no, DEMAND--Kone to help Aang.

"Open this door!" Katara wasn't normally one for shouting and pounding her fists on someone's door, nor was she one to resorts to demanding to get her way. "Don't make me get my friend to burn it down!" Of course, she didn't realize how angry she was and would probably regret showing Zuko this side of her later. Then again, it might teach him to be more cautious when they were fighting or he had done something to make her angry.

Before resorting to desperate measures, Katara, put her ear to the door and listened intently. She could hear a faint cough, and instead of turning to Zuko, she carefully turned to doorknob, which had been unlocked the whole time. Now she felt silly for shouting and pounding on the door like that. "Come on." She motioned her head, giving the signal for them to go inside. Zuko carried the unconscious Aang on his back. "Thanks again for helping." she whispered. Zuko merely nodded at her, more careful to keep quiet, not that it would do them any good now.

As they searched the house, Katara noticed it being messier. Chairs were turned, bottles were broken, their shards scattered everywhere. "Watch it." Katara told Zuko. "I'm back Kone. Where are you?" Instead of checking both room and wasting time, she wanted to know where he was right then. "I have Aang with me and I want you to cure him! And while you're at it, fix the wound on his head!"

"Of course, sweetheart. Watch your step." she heard his voice coming from the door on the left and stepped over all the broken shards to get to him. Zuko had to be extra careful, what with carrying Aang and all. Carefully, she opened the door and peered in the dark room. He was sitting peacefully in his chair amidst all the chaos. More broken bottles, with splintered pieces of wood, and plants that had been torn apart lay around him. The old man looked so out of place. One bottle of liquid sat in his lap. "Do yah know how many people will try tah harness the power of the avatar?"

Was this just some kind of test? Katara didn't know whether to calmly listen to his reasoning or scream so loud, it would reach the South Pole. She knew she had to stay rational.

The old man suddenly grabbed her wrist, causing her to jump. "Don't let that happen, love. Ah believe in yah."

"I don't understand." Katara shook her head at him. "What did you do? Can't you help him?" somehow, she managed to free her hand and sweep away many of the shards lying around. "Zuko, will you set him down?" The fire bender did as she asked, carefully placing the Avatar inthe only open space.

"Why is he here?" Kone asked angrily. "Why did yah bring tha fire prince to mah home? This is not something yah want him tah hear, girl." With that, Katara motioned for Zuko to leave, concerned for his safety. Who knew what crazy stunt the old man would pull next. Except that his eyes were blank and tired. They did not have the same glint to them as she remembered when he had possessed Aang. When the door was shut, he continued. "Many warriors will want tha Avatar under their control. What will happen to yah when he is being used as a puppet by someone who wants yah dead? Don' let that happen, love. Yah're more powerful than that. And tha boy will be able tah control his powers."

He handed over the potion to Katara, who gave it to Aang before asking anymore questions. She sighed with relief when the tattoos were no longer glowing. However, he still had that nasty wound on his head.

"Well, train him! Help me heal him and we can teach him! Aang is a quick learner!" Katara insisted. If he was offering help, she certainly couldn't turn it down.

"It's not that easy. Here, prop him up." When she managed to do that, the old man placed a hand on the wound. Like the tattoos, it glowed blue before it look normal again. His eyes fluttered a bit and his breathing slowed a bit. He was relaxing now, which made Katara relax. "He can't do this every time he wants tah avoid killin' yah. He'd kill himself, and we'd have no avatar, would we?" She couldn't help but cry. He had used up all of his power to keep Aang in the avatar state. He had trained him as much as he possibly could.

Now he was dying. In fact, he had used up the last of his power to make sure Aang's nasty bump had gone away. Even with all the trouble he stirred up, it was for a good cause. None of them had ever thought Aang could be used as a puppet. He had been, but that was by a powerful earth spirit who would've gotten nothing out of taking over all of the nations.

Zuko listened in from the other side. If he used the avatar like that, nobody could ever treat him like an outcast. Even Azula. With the Avatar, she would have a newfound respect for him, making it easier to take over all of the other nations, like they had been trying to accomplish for years.

"Wake up!" Katara shook Kone, who's eyes were now heavy. He struggled to keep them open, even as Katara was shaking his shoulder.

Before he went back to sleep, Kone reached into a pocket, handing her a vile. "If he is like this, and yah can get close, let him drink this. It will help him hold of whoever is pullin' the strings, but he still has to learn. Ah know yah can help him learn, love." Katara felt confused, knowing all she really did was run and freeze him to a wall. There wasn't much else that could've been done for him. Kone waved a hand to shoo her way. "Off with yah, city slickers. Ah don't have much time, and Ah'd like some peace." She knew in mere minutes, his time would be up. Perhaps later, they could come back and give him a proper burial.

Katara managed to support Aang on one of her shoulders and drag him out. She looked around. Something wasn't quite right. "Zuko?" she called out. However, the Fire Prince was not there. Still, she had to concentrate on Aang. She would have to explain to him when he awoke.

Katara ran outside, only to find that Appa was slightly distressed and Zuko was gone. She had a bad feeling that wasn't the last she would see of him. Of course not. The Fire Nation was still out of control and trying to take over every other nation in the world. If they did manage to find out, she'd be in a world of trouble. So would Aang, who had already suffered enough at the moment. Luckily, she had another potion to hold him off if it ever happened.

She settled Aang on the bison's back and took off. Katara looked around for Zuko, worrying when she didn't find a trace of him... Surely he wouldn't betray her trust twice in a row?

**Left a nice open ending for the imagination.**


End file.
